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MEMORIAL f ADDRESS 



DELIVEUEI 



R. FUNERAL OF 



0ll^a|)taiii Samuel ^. f agkn; 



:\'' 



AT WINDSOfe LOCKS, 



Friday, Jniic lt>, 1§63. 



KEV. GEOUGEJifK. OVIATT, 

Pastor of the Cong. Church, Soiners, and lately! Chaplain of the 25th Keg't Conn. Vols. 



PUBLISUED BTfJ, JtKQU 



HARTFOKD: 
PRESS OF CASE, LOCKwjs)'(>l> AND COMPANY 






MEMORIAL ADDRESS 

DELIVERED AT THE FUNERAL OF 

Captain ^anuul %. fagben, 

AT WINDSOR LOCKS, 

Fri<clay, June 19, 1§C:J. 



BY 

HEV. GEOlKiE A. OVIATT, 

of the Cong. Church, Somers, and lately Chaplain of the 25th Keg't Conn. Vol* 



Pastor 



r U B L I f^ H E D BY REQUEST. 



HARTFORD: 
PRESS OF CASE, LOCKWOOD AND COMPANY. 

1863. 






^/32./ 



MEMORIAL ADDRESS. 



" Oil if there be on this earthly sphere, 

A boon, an offering Heaven holds dear, 

'Tis the last libation Liberty draws, 

From the heart that bleeds and breaks in her cause." 

Patriotism, pure, self-sacrificing, enduring unto tlie 
end, is ever and by all classes, held in high esteem, 
and is the theme that inspires the richest bursts of elo- 
quence by which the people are swayed, and the 
sweetest, loftiest strains of poetry that thrill and 
enrapture the nations of every age and clime. He 
who pours out his blood and gives up his life in the 
cause of liberty and his country, shouting " give me 
liberty or give me death," for myself, my family, 
and my native land, leaves to the world a precious 
legacy and a name of power never to be forgotten 
till the end of time. 

The true Christian ever acts according to the 
instructions of the great apostle, as his motto, ex- 
pressed in these words, "Whether therefore ye eat 



or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of 
God." The patriotism of such a man, and his love 
of liberty, are Christian, heaven-born, and they will 
burn and inspire to noblest deeds, when the patriot- 
ism and love of liberty of other men may grow faint 
and cold, and cease to be such a mighty impelling 
motive in the soul. 

In the war of the Revolution when our nationality 
and our liberty were gained as an independent gov- 
ernment, how the Christian patriots of the colonies 
rushed, deliberately and gladly to the bloody strife, 
and spilt their blood like water in the struggle ; and 
how the Christian patriotic women of that period 
with tears and smiles, bade their husbands, fathers, 
sons, speed them to the battle, meanwhile bathing 
them with their tears, and earnestly commending 
them to God in their prayers, and then bending their 
slender forms to perform the tasks of men, and 
endure the exposures of the sterner sex, that they 
might provide for themselves, their aged fathers and 
mothers, the sick and the little children left with 
them at home. That was a holy war, waged by our 
fathers for the cause of civil and religious liberty. 

This war we are prosecuting to-day, not to repel 
foreign invaders, not to lay the foundations of a new 
government, not to alter and amend the constitution 
under which we have lived so prosperously, and be- 



6 



come so influential among the nations of the earth, 
for 8o long a period, but simply to put down treason 
and preserve our institutions of civil and religious 
liberty, that we may transmit them unimpaired to 
those who si jail come after us, is a holy war, and 
must be maintained, at whatever sacrifice of life and 
treasure, till we prevail, and law and order triumph. 
The greatness of the interests at stake in this war 
against treason, we do not yet measure, nor are we 
as much inspired and earnest to put down this ini- 
quitous rebellion within our borders, as become us 
in the sight of God and the world. Terrible indeed 
is the necessity that obliges us to spill the blood and 
destroy the property, and at such an almost infinite 
sacrifice to ourselves, of the sons of those who fought 
side by side with our fathers in the wonderful and 
glorious war of the Revolution. 

We have preserved our existence and liberties, 
since our fathers achieved them, when assailed by 
foreign foes; now we are testing the question in the 
face of all the despotic powers in the world, whether 
we can preserve them against traitors at home, mad 
and determined to sunder the Union. 

To the rescue of our country, in this time of our 
greatest peril, with their lives in their hands, how 
many of our noblest and best Christian patriots have 
enlisted in the army and navy, and gone forth cheer- 



6 

fully to give battle to the bitterest and fiercest enemy 
ever arrayed against us, on the land and on the 
water, leaving behind them weeping wives, parents, 
children, brothers and sisters, saying amid their tears 
and sobs, hasten to the terrible struggle, and for our 
sakes and for the great cause of human rights, of 
civil and religious freedom, and by the assistance of 
God, do valiantly in the conflict. 

How, in the war of the Revolution, was the land 
filled with mourning for the noble dead. How was 
almost every family in the New England colonies rep- 
resented in the patriotic army, and represented too in 
the brave men who fell in battle. In the very midst 
of this war against treason and oppression, here in 
our New England cities and towns, is there the ap- 
pearance of peace and gladness, — as there is, in truth, 
great prosperity in business and a great abundance 
of the necessaries and comforts of life — as if, almost 
there were no war, and no rumor of war, in all our 
borders. We have sent to the war, from New Eng- 
land, an immense army, thousands upon thousands ; 
from the little state of Connecticut, something more 
than twenty-five thousand men — and yet our streets 
are thronged ; our houses of merchandise, our man- 
ufactories, great and small, our workshops of every 
name, our churches and places of amusement, present 
no signs of a diminished population ; and these states, 



in all their interests of agriculture, manufactures and 
trade, are growing rich. The people dress no less 
extravagantly than they did before this war broke 
out. We have these thousands ni the army and 
navy ; we have taxes to })ay such as we knew noth- 
ing of before ; we are looking forward to a heavy 
national debt to be cancelled, and yet, a stranger 
coming among us, would scarcely suspect that we 
were waging such a great war, on such a vast scale, 
at so great a cost of life and property. The news- 
papers are read most eagerly, tidings from the 
armies and navies are sought for with unwonted ex- 
citement, the people in groups, larger or smaller, with 
much enthusiasm, discuss the great questions of the 
war and its results ; when the dead bodies of soldiers 
are brought home to their friends, crowds follow 
them to their burial, but still the great multitudes of 
our people move on, from day to day, with mirth 
and laughter, all seeking to become rich. But 
oh ! how many of our men in the service of the 
country, have died in the field of battle and in 
hospitals 5 and how many in consequence of their 
wounds and sicknesses, returned to their homes, will 
spend the residue of their days feeble and disabled, 
even to dependency almost absolute. 

Could all the families in Connecticut from which 
loved ones have gone forth to this war — and in this 



8 



number, by themselves, all those who have been be- 
reft of those they bade depart to the perilous post 
of patriotic duty — be assembled in one community, 
what a sight would be presented to our view to open 
the fountains of our sympathy, and cause us all to 
lament and weep. And how many more men we are 
to send to the war, and how many more of our brave 
soldiers are to perish far away from those who so 
long to but can not minister to them in their suffer- 
ings and soothe them in their dying hours, none of 
us can tell. 

Captain Samuel S. Hayden was eminently a Chris- 
tian patriot, and as such he fell gloriously on the gory 
field. By those among whom he lived for so many 
years, he was well known and most highly esteemed. 
I became acquainted with him the early part of Oc- 
tober last, when I connected myself as chaplain with 
the 25th Regiment, which he had joined some time 
before. We very soon were warmly and strongly at- 
tached to each other, and our mutual love was indeed 
like the love of brothers. I think I knew him well, 
and the more thoroughly I knew and understood him, 
the more I admired and loved him. He was one of 
the most frank and outspoken men I ever saw. He 
never affected anything, and just what he was, all, 
who had intercourse with him, could see. He was a 
noble specimen of a puritan of the olden time. In 



9 

his manners and speech he was plain and unassuming. 
All his opinions he held as his honest sentiments, and 
he held them with firmness, whether they were pop- 
ular or unpopular, whether, in holding them, he stood 
alone or among the many. 

He was a remarkably conscientious man. He 
never meant to express an opinion or a feeling unless 
he WHS convinced that it was right, and when he was 
satisfied that his opinions and feelings were right, no 
flatteries or frowns of his fellows could move him 
from expressing them as he chose to express them, 
or to turn one hair's breadth to the right or left hand 
from the course he was constrained to believe it was 
his duty to pursue. 

No one ever had occasion to question his perfect 
integrity, in his business, in his friendships, in his 
patriotism, in his religion. Plain spoken as he was, 
tenacious of his opinions as he was, he was never 
overbearing. He possessed strong intellectual facul- 
ties, and always displayed great common sense. He 
was a very tender-hearted man, and was easily 
touched to tears at the sight or ])y the rehearsal of 
human suffering, and was ready to bear his part, 
fully, in contributing to relieve the wants of those 
needing assistance. 

He was most ardently attached to his family and 
friends, and cherished with great veneration the 
2 



10 



memory of those he loved and honored who had 
passed away from among the living. We used to see 
each other repeatedly every day. He often visited 
me at my quarters, when we were in the habit of 
conversing very freely about our families and kin- 
dred, and when speaking of those he had left at 
home, his eyes would soon moisten, and the tears roll 
down his manly cheeks in streams. I well remem- 
ber his description of his mother's burial, and his 
statement that the last meeting of his brothers and 
sisters living, all together, was at her grave in 
Windsor. 

He was always manly, generous, and not selfish. 
He despised all meanness, and never stooped to do a 
mean thing. 

He was a man of great energy. He never shirked 
from duty and responsibility. In the regiment and 
in his company he was always in his place, and 
always ready to bear the brunt of the hard work to 
be done. He never complained of fatigue or sick- 
ness unless he had just cause for complaint, and was 
always ready to push on even when others thought 
that he should more favor himself 

Captain Hayden was truly a brave man. He was 
not rash, but he was brave according to Bacon's defi- 
nition of the word, and united "courage with gene- 
rosity and dignity of mind," and as an anonymous 



11 



writer says, " The hrave man will not deliberately do 
an injury to his fellow-man." 

His patriotism was as pure and self-sacrificing as 
ever glowed in the bosom of any man. He enlisted 
in the army not for gain, not for honor, not because 
he was weary of the routine of life at home, and 
would be an adventurer, but simply from a stern 
sense of duty. He had a pleasant home, he was 
surrounded by loving kindred and friends, he enjoyed 
the confidence of the community, and he had a com- 
petence of worldly good, with common frugality and 
industry, to enable him to support himself and family 
comfortably, and to contribute something as he 
wished to the great causes of benevolence, while he 
had passed the meridian of his years, being in the 
fiftieth year of his age, and was just at the time of 
life when he felt that he would more than ever find 
his peace and enjoyment in the bosom of his home 
and in the society of his friends. His country was 
in peril. Treason was beating against the constitu- 
tion and government of the country, and seeking 
most madly to rupture the Union, and the cry to 
arms was ringing through the valleys and over the 
hills of New England. The cry roused all the Chris- 
tian patriotism in him, and that he might be an 
example to others and do what in him lay to put 
down this rebellion, he nobly laid himself on the 



12 



altar, and went forth to fight for his country. As he 
was loyal as loyal could be, and was ready to fight 
for the preservation of the constitution, so did he 
hate the institution of slavery, and feel that it must 
and ought to be, in due time, utterly overthrown. 

Our departed friend was a Christian, and he car- 
ried his religion with him into all his business and 
pleasures. He enlisted in the army for the purpose 
of glorifying God, as he often used to say to me with 
emphasis. As his patriotism was thus Christian, as a 
man of God he used to rebuke any of his men he 
overheard expressing any treasonable sentiments. 
He never compromised anything when speaking 
against the rebellion and slavery. He used to say, 
"I do hope we shall yet do something that will tell 
in the final overthrow of these enemies of the coun- 
try." 

He was a strong temperance man. On one occa- 
sion, when we were in camp on Long Island, we held 
in the evening a meeting preliminary to our organ- 
ization of a regimental temperance society ; he made 
a most effective speech, strong, earnest, and truly 
eloquent, and which deeply moved us all. In Baton 
Rogue, in consequence of the bad water we had to 
drink, and the debilitating state of the climate, as 
well as the exposures of the men when doing picket 



13 

duty, the surgeons advised the moderate use of whis- 
ky. Capt. Hayden often said to me, "Chaplain, I 
don't beUeve that I shall ever follow this advice of 
the physicians, though I am not satisfied tiiat they 
are wrong, for they are, all through the army, united 
in this thing." I am persuaded that he never, when 
in the army, drank a drop of spirituous liquors of any 
kind. 

His habits as a moral and Cliristian man were so 
correct, that he was a noble example of a good man 
for all to imitate. 

He was always cheerful, and sought to make others 
cheerful. I do not remember that I ever saw him in 
a depressed state of mind. 

He was a man of prayer, always at the prayer-meet- 
ing, and we ever listened to his earnest prayers and 
exhortations with great profit and delight. On one 
occasion he went with me to the "quarters of the 
contrabands," when I preached to a large congrega- 
tion of the negroes. The audience was much moved, 
and at the close of my discourse, 1 called on Capt. 
Hayden to offer the concluding prayer, when he ad- 
dressed the throne of grace with remarkable appro- 
priateness and fervor, and seemed to be indeed 
inspired by the Holy Ghost. 

He was always present at public worship on the 
Sabbath, unless kept away by unavoidable duties, 



14 

and when I preached a plain, earnest sermon, I was 
sure to have from him an approving word. He was 
to me both an Aaron and a Hur to stay np my hands. 

I have thus freely spoken of Capt. Hayden as 
I knew him in the army, and as I became his warm, 
earnest friend and Christian brother, confident that 
his memory will ever be fragrant and precious to 
me. I have spoken as I have of the departed in 
all good faith. No man in this world is perfect. 
Undoubtedly our friend had his failings. But I am 
sure he was a noble man, a noble patriot, a sincere, 
earnest Christian,— a truly good man. 

I well remember the last interview I had with 
him. He called to see me, as I was then very sick 
and in great pain. I read to him a letter I had lately 
received, giving an account of the peaceful and tri- 
umphant death of a young lady among my people 
in Somers. The letter very much moved him. He 
then showed me pictures he had of his wife and 
children. "Chaplain," said he, "I have a pleasant 
family, and it is hard to be separated from them; 
these two are all the children I have ; they are affec- 
tionate and pleasant always. All I can ask for them 
is that they may become Christians." Waiting a few 
moments, he said, " well, chaplain, we know not what 
is before us ; I am sorry that you must go home. I 
may be shot in the battle-field, but I have no choice ; 



15 



I leave myself with God. Should I fall in battle, I 
believe that I am ready. I often have doubts and 
fears as to my acceptance with God, but I am per- 
suaded that Christ is mine. Time, a few years, are 
of little consequence, save as we should use them in 
doing good." Then with a smile and with tears, 
taking me by the hand, he said, "good-bye, if we 
never meet again here on earth, I trust we shall 
meet to part no more in heaven. If you live to get 
home, I hope you will go and see my dear family, 
and my brothers and sisters." 

Captain Hayden died honorably in the terrible 
battle at Irish Bend, La., April the 14th. The Sur- 
geon, Dr. Wm. B. Woods, who well knew him, writes 
that ho was killed by a shell, or the fragment of a 
shell, that struck him on his head. Col. Bissell writes 
to the same effect, and adds that when laid out side 
by side, — Capt. Hayden and Lieut. Dewey, — their 
countenances looked even beautiful. Some of his 
men have written home that Capt. Hayden was not 
well when he went into the action ; that he was 
fatigued by the long marches they had made, and 
that he was entreated to lie down and get a little 
rest, to which entreaty he replied, "No, I must push 
on." Just like him, noble man. 

He died with his armor on, both as a soldier in the 
army of his country and as a Christian warrior. He 



16 



has gone to his reward and his rest in the presence 
of his Saviour and his God. He died in the midst of 
his usefulness ; he died blessed in the Lord. If he 
does not now know, he will know, we trust, a few 
years hence, that his earnest prayers for the conver- 
sion of his children, he offered not in vain. 

How our departed friend will be missed and 
lamented by this church and community. One of 
your strong men, ever on the side of right, has been 
smitten down. The Sabbath school will miss him 
who has served as its superintendent,- and for so many 
years been its earnest promoter. 

We have all lost a dear friend, but we may be 
blessed in the future by our recollection of his friend- 
ship and our very missing of it, and though dead, it 
may be to us as if he were living. The country has 
lost a noble patriot defender of her constitution, gov- 
ernment, and free institutions, but his death will be 
effective from the moment he fell, onward in all her 
coming history of prosperity and trial, to rouse her 
sons to a higher appreciation of their privileges and 
a greater readiness to make sacrifices for their pres- 
ervation for their children and their children's child- 
ren. His blood and death speak for liberty and our 
republican government with a most powerful utter- 
ance, to roll on through the coming years and to stir 



17 



" the millions yet to be," with a purer and stronger 
Christian patriotism. 

1 can but rejoice jjersonally, and congratulate the 
kindred and more immediate friends of the deceased 
that they have recovered his remains, and are thus 
enabled to give them burial, solemnly and decently, 
in the old burying ground dear to him, by the side 
of his most honored parents and other kindred. As 
did Martha and Mary at their brother's sepulchre, 
so may the surviving relatives of him whose mortal 
remains we are about to inter, often repair to liis 
grave that they may weep and be comforted there. 

To the Avidow of the deceased and her fatherless 
children, and these other near relatives, I ask the 
favor of saying but a few words of Christian advice 
and consolation. 

To the little family of our departed friend, the 
world does not, and never can look as it used to. 
The best earthly friend you have had, the kindest and 
most faithful of husbands, the most devoted and 
indulgent of fathers, whose counsel. Christian advice, 
example and prayers were so invaluable, you will 
see not again on earth. You will not have him with 
you in the future as in the past, to thread with you 
the winding paths of life, to cheer you with his smiles 
and tears, and place aroimd j-ou his strong arms. 
Be thankful that you have had such a husband and 
3 



18 



father, and may God be ever your portion, the 
widow's God, and the lather of the latherless who 
trust in him. May the only son surviving, as far as 
he may be able, take his father's place in the family 
and still keep the Hame ascending brightly, con- 
stantly, and with sweet perfume on the domestic 
altar. Though these children are not in their most 
dependent years, they are in the very forming period 
of life when they need the instructions of just such a 
father as they have had. 

These brothers and sisters of the deceased mourn 
the death of a most noble and affectionate brother. 
You remember him when in years gone by, you 
were happy and joyous together under the old 
paternal roof, the numerous children of most hon- 
ored parents. In your reunions, from time to 
time, since your fatlier's family was broken up, 
how much was Samuel the life of your gatherings. 
You feel that death is diminishing your numbers, 
and that in the death of this beloved brother, God 
is laying his hand heavily upon you. 

All these kindred of the departed good man, the 
Christian patriot soldier, feel that they are, by his 
death, smitten with a great affliction. 

My dear friends, comprising this mourning circle, 
you may dwell, at times, on the aggravated circum- 
stances connected with the death of him you fondly 



19 



loved. But ho died honorably, in a glorious cause, 
and not in vain. Though you were not witli him in 
his last moments, if indeed he lingered a little after 
he was struck by that terrible missile, to comfort and 
soothe him, I am sure that Chrld was with him. He 
used to say to me, " One can as peacefully and tri- 
umphantly go to heaven from the hospital and the 
battle field, unattended by friends, as from a soft 
and downy bed at home, surrounded by loved ones 
so kindly ministering to the departing friend in 
his suffering." Had Captain Hayden remained at 
home, he might have died by sickness or accident 
just on the day and at the very moment of his expi- 
ration on that field of carnage and blood. God 
called him to the war. It was God's will that he 
should seal his attachment to him and to his country 
by the sacrifice of his life. Bow then, my afflicted 
friends, submissively, resignedly to the will of heaven. 
Say, the Lord's, and not our will Ije done. Cast your 
burdens, in this day of your sorrow, on Him who 
careth for you. Hear each of you a new voice 
speaking to you and saying, " Prepare to meet thy 
God." 

Think of the bliss and glory of your departed 
loved one, as he is now a glorified spirit in the world 
of light and love. Can you not l)y fjxith, see him 
wearing his glittering crown, and his long white gar- 



20 

ment washed and made white in the blood of the 
Lamb, and sweeping his golden harp ? Here, to-day, 
consecrate yourselves anew and wholly unto God. 

Think, too, of your own departure hence, of the 
resurrection morn, and the meeting of those who so 
loved each other on earth, on the hills of salvation, 
and under the eye of Christ, the splendor and glory 
of heaven, never again to part. 

Of therecog:nition of Christian friends in the world 
of glory, I have no doubt. That they will know each 
other there, and there remember the past, and there 
sing and worship, and serve God, in company, is in 
my view, both philosophical and scriptural. 

How many friends, friends who have been so dear 
to you in your earthly sojourn, have you, who com- 
prise this bereaved group in heaven. And are you 
all thitherward bound ? Are you all in Christ, jus- 
tified and ready for the coming event of your sum- 
mons to go the way whence you will never return ? 
Are you all prepared to meet your Saviour on his 
throne above, the glorious centre of attraction in 
heaven, and all your dear kindred who have died in 
the Lord, and been received up into glory ? There 
will be no sorrow there, no tears, no conflicts. 

Now and onward in your stay on earth, remember 
the uncertainty of life. Live cheerfully, but live 
solemnly. 



21 



Soon you will be called for to put off' your mortal 
bodies, be ye ready for the call. 

" For ever with the Lord !" 

Amen ! so let it he : 
Life from the dead is in that word ; 

'Tis immortality. 

Here in the body pent, 

Absent from him I roam, 
But nightly pitch my moving tent, 

A days' march nearer home. 

My Father's house on high, 

Home of my soul ! how near, 
At times, to faith's aspiring eye, 

Thy golden gates appear ! 

Forever with the Lord ! 

Father, if 'tis thy will 
The promise of thy gracious word 

Ev'n here to me fulfill. 

So when my latest breath 

Shall rend the vail in tAvain, 
By death I shall escape from death, 

And life eternal gain. 

Knowing " as I am known," 

How shall I love that word. 
And oft repeat before the throne, 

"(Forever with tlie Lord!" 



22 



Our sainted friend and brother is at this moment 
singing -Forever with the Lord." Sing on thus 
forever brother, and we ere long will join thee in 
the song. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

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013 709 089 2 Vl 



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